Introductory Chemistry - Chemical Bonding, Ions, and Compounds

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Lewis structures, octet rule, ions, ionic and covalent bonding, nomenclature, aqueous solutions, and acids.

Lewis dot symbols

Chemical representations that show valence electrons as dots arranged around an element's atomic symbol.

Octet rule

The principle stating that an atom is stabilized by having its outer valence energy level completely filled, typically with eight valence electrons.

Ion

An atom or group of bonded atoms that carries an overall positive or negative electrical charge.

Cation

A positively charged ion formed when an atom or group of atoms loses one or more electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion formed when an atom or group of atoms gains one or more electrons.

Polyatomic ion

A group of covalently bonded atoms that carries an overall net electrical charge.

Oxyanion

A polyatomic ion containing oxygen covalently bonded to another element, typically named with the element root and the suffix -ate or -ite.

Ionic bond

An electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged cations and anions.

Ionic compound

A compound composed of positive metal cations and negative nonmetal anions held together by ionic bonds with a total charge of zero.

Ionic lattice

A regular three-dimensional array of alternating positive and negative ions.

Formula unit

The simplest formula showing the type and relative ratio of each element present in an ionic compound.

Covalent bond

A chemical bond formed when two nonmetal atoms share electrons to complete their valence energy levels.

Diatomic molecule

A molecule composed of exactly two atoms, such as the seven elemental gases: $H_2$, $N_2$, $O_2$, $F_2$, $Cl_2$, $Br_2$, and $I_2$.

Molecular formula

A chemical formula that specifies the exact number and type of atoms contained in a single molecule of a covalent compound.

Binary covalent compound

A compound containing two different nonmetal elements, named using Greek prefixes to indicate the number of atoms of each element present.

Electrolyte

A substance, such as an ionic compound or an acid, that produces ions when dissolved in water and forms a solution that conducts electricity.

Dissociation

The process by which individual ions in an ionic crystal lattice are pulled apart in an aqueous solution.

Acid

A covalent compound that forms hydrogen ions ($H^+$) when dissolved in an aqueous solution.

Binary acid

An acid composed of hydrogen and a single nonmetallic element, named with the prefix hydro- and the suffix -ic acid.

Oxyacid

An acid containing hydrogen bonded to an oxyanion, named based on the oxyanion's suffix where -ate changes to -ic acid and -ite changes to -ous acid.